China Launches First Offshore Carbon Storage Project

China's first offshore carbon dioxide storage demonstration project was officially launched in the Pearl River Mouth Basin of the South China Sea, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced on Aug 30.

The project's underground reservoirs, located 800 meters underwater, will store 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually with a total storage capacity of 1.46 million tons. This carbon dioxide will be generated by offshore oil exploitation. 

The project is a key step in the green and low-carbon transition that is being made by China's offshore oil development industry.

Chief Engineer Zhang Wei, deputy general manager of CNOOC in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, explained that the project is a supporting environmental protection project in the Enping 15-1 oilfield cluster.

According to Zhang, CO2 underground storage is an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Upon operation, the project's total carbon dioxide reduction will be equivalent to planting 14 million trees or decommissioning 1 million cars.

(Executive editor: Niu Yilin)